Summer is not over! On this I heartily agree with Jody. I’m glad she wrote about late summer (and new potatoes) so eloquently, because she reminded me that I also wanted to reflect on this time of year. Perhaps we have a similar perspective because our years of homeschooling allowed us to flow with the feeling of the air around us, rather than to have our energies diverted away from the real and natural seasons of the earth.
In my micro-climate there is precious little summery feeling to begin with, and no matter what the high temperature of the day, if the thermometer drops below 60 at night, and we wake up to fog that hangs on until noon…well, it’s hard to be content with that.
BUT if the tomatoes are coming to the peak of production, and we get a day that starts out sunny and stays warm through the dinner hour — Praise God for SUMMER! That’s how today has been, and it’s very comforting.
My dear goddaughter gave me a present of her hippie Garden Doll. The story of this doll — why she was made and why she was given — is meaningful to the giver and me, but essentially unexplainable to anyone else. For that reason I didn’t plan to share her here. I didn’t want her to go where she might not be appreciated; she’s that special to me that I feel protective of her.
You will think I have been reading too many Rumer Godden books. Perhaps, but I think they have done me good. And I decided after all to show her picture because her face is like the sun, so appropriate for her theme, and makes her perfect for a summertime gift as well.
Maybe Soldier son brought some heat with him from his home in the Sacramento area this morning. Did you know that people sometimes call our state capital SacraTomato? It’s a good place to grow tomatoes. He drove over to help us with various home maintenance projects, and afterward he suggested we have bacon-lettuce-and-tomato sandwiches for lunch. It was National Bacon Da
y after all. Just lucky the weather cooperated.
He helped pick the lovely red fruits I have been neglecting, and we assembled those sandwiches that are also a sign of summer. They are not worth eating if they don’t contain homegrown-quality tomatoes.
Just a few days ago Maggie told me, “Grandma, it smells like summer in your house.” Really?? Wow, what a surprise for me, and almost a rebuke for my discontent. We didn’t try to analyze that perception of hers that warmed my heart the way I was wishing summer would warm my body. I will just hold it in my mind’s treasure box along with the image of Garden Doll.
Just so you know, summer extends well into September in this place. So next month won’t be too late for me to tell you about The Summer Book and another one of Tove Jansson’s that tells a summer story. October will be soon enough to move on.
Gladsome Lights 
Aw, I love the doll. Her face is serene and she symbolizes peace (the real kind). I think your granddaughter’s compliment is beautiful. Summer smells so good!
We rarely have fog but I did grow up in it.
Bless you, dear friend.
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I love listening, that was what I was doing as I read, to the sounds of summer that you wrote about. Your tomatoes and your family. The stories of your books. I have some Rumer Godden on hold from the library. I know how I would miss summer and its warmth if I was somewhere else, even though I do complain about it. To me it is normal.
I agree with you bacon and tomato sandwiches only make sense with home grown tomatoes.
I picked tomatoes this morning and there is something that just say summer being in the garden, even though mine is tired and I have horn worms on my plants. I just let them eat because I know they will fall to the ground dig in the dirt and next spring when I am pining for warm weather again, the lovely giant moths will make me happy.
Have a wonderful summer day. Thank you for sharing your the lovely moments of your life.
Praying for you all every day.
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Love the hippie Garden Doll. But then I’m an old hippie myself! 🙂
BLT’s are a favorite of mine! Glad you’re finding some good books. I’m still looking forward to my first Rumer Godden book (In This House of Brede). Enjoy your long summer! We never know what to expect here in northern Minnesota!
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It’s so interesting to read this year about various people’s responses to the seasons’ changing. Oh, if you want summer-and-lots-of-it, you should live here! Temperatures have been in the upper 80’s, which is rather cool, honestly, for the South. However, the humidity, which is thick, close, and oppressive, makes it feel 95. Add to the humidity a blistering bright sun in the afternoon, and the effect is sweltering and suffocating. I do not go outside.
Your description of the fog before noon felt so comforting and beautiful to me 🙂 Enjoy those yummy BLTs!!
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May summer indeed warm you. I like that doll too 🙂 such a nice face and such colours! I love a good home grown tomato; Mr. Husband’s been getting yellow heirlooms from the farmers market and I just love eating them raw with a bit of salt. Praying for you! 🙂
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Love the nasturtiums! My grandma used to grow them like crazy, and I spent a good deal of time as a child picking the seed pods and drying them to take back home. so many years later, I’ve just never had good luck with them. So thanks for sharing yours!
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The garden doll is beautiful. Love her face and all those colorful beads. Can there ever be too much Rumer Godden? I hope you get to enjoy many more summery days before Autumn arrives. The summer heat lasts through September here as well, and sometimes even through October. It makes those first cold, crisp autumnal days so delicious.
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I can almost taste summer sweetness in those tomatoes!
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